Here we are, Part 2. Took me a while, but I got it done. Not very long,
not much more happens, though the plot is established, and
Remus has a dark secret...
Next morning, James was woken earlier than he would have wanted after Sirius threw a pillow at him.
'Good morning,' said Sirius cheerfully.
'Not for you,' replied James, and they continued to have a furious pillow fight, and were joined by Remus, Peter and Frank shortly. Then, after their fight, the five boys made their way down to breakfast. As they arrived, they saw the post arriving. James couldn't see Mercury, and guessed that she would be resting in the Owlery.
The first-years were then given their new timetables, and saw that their first lesson was Transfiguration. So, they made their way to the Transfiguration classroom, where Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house was waiting. The task they were set was to change a match into a needle, and by the end of the lesson, only James had managed it. Sirius had given up and was making Lily laugh. Remus had almost got it, but not quite. Peter had also given up, and was chatting to Lily and Sirius. Unfortunately for the three of them, Professor McGonagall caught them, and took five points from Gryffindor.
***
Throughout the week, they had different lessons. On Monday and Tuesday afternoons they had Defence Against the Dark Arts with a wizard called Professor Thornheart, the head of Slytherin house. He wasn't too bad, though he disliked James and Sirius as they kept disrupting the lesson, but couldn't fail to like Frank, who was by far the best in the class.
On Tuesday morning they had Potions with the Slytherins, with Professor Jackson, the head of Ravenclaw house, who was extremely good-natured and clever. He didn't even mind that James kept on making Sirius laugh throughout the lesson, or that they teased Snape. Sirius found Potions to be his best subject.
Charms, on Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon, was taught by a tiny wizard called Professor Flitwick. Lily was surprised to find that she was very good at Charms, as she was the only person who performed the Trianus Charm, a simple charm to lock doors. On Wednesday afternoon they had Transfiguration again.
On Wednesday at midnight, they had Astronomy with a witch called Professor Sinistra. They had to study the stars and the planetary movements.
A young witch called Professor Lennox taught Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, on Thursday morning, which was where Peter shone. She was the head of Hufflepuff house, and was quite strict, though not as bad as Professor Thornheart.
An extremely old wizard called Professor Binns taught History of Magic on Friday morning. He had been teaching at Hogwarts for nearly forty years. His lessons, however, were about as interesting as watching paint dry, and therefore James and Sirius attempted to keep everyone entertained during them. This earned them both their first detentions, something they were both proud of.
'In our first week, as well,' Sirius had said happily.
'Its gotta be a record,' James had replied.
'I've got an idea. Let's try and break the world record for detentions in one year.'
'Sounds good. Reckon 50 would do?'
'Only one way to find out!'
On Friday afternoon, which the Gryffindors had free, James and Sirius sat on their own in the common room playing chess. Remus was visiting Hagrid, and Lily was doing her Charms homework. Peter was taking a nap.
'Hey, James,' said Sirius suddenly, 'd'you fancy going for a stroll?'
'Certainly, Sirius,' said James, grinning.
The two of them got up, and left through the portrait hole.
'Where should we go?'
'Dunno.'
So the two of them decided just two walk around the school and try and find something mischievous to do. They managed to find the library, but were thrown out for making too much noise by Madam Pince, the librarian. James was on the verge of asking Sirius if he wanted to go back to the common room, when he heard voices coming from the room up ahead. He motioned to Sirius to follow him, and they edged closer to the room. The door was slightly ajar, and James could hear two voices: Professor Thornheart's and Professor Jackson's:
'Lee, you said you had the formula,' came Thornheart's threatening voice
'Calm down Frederic, calm down,' came Jackson's shaky reply, 'I am working on it.'
'You must hurry, the potion only works within a year, and a month has passed already.'
'I have already-'
But then Professor Jackson stopped talking abruptly, because he had heard a noise from just outside the door - Sirius had sneezed. Panicking, James motioned to Sirius to follow him, but before they could turn the corridor…
'There is someone there!' He heard Jackson scream.
'Get them then!' Came Thornheart's reply.
James and Sirius broke into runs. They ran. They could hear Jackson's footsteps just behind them. They flew down a flight of stairs, through a door and turned a corner into a corridor filled with pictures of food. James' heart leapt - it was a dead end. They could hear Jackson coming closer and closer. They leaned right up against the wall, onto a painting of a fruit bowl, and tried to hide in the shadows. James' hand brushed the painting. And then, just as Jackson's shadow was visible around the corner, they heard a giggling sound. They turned to look at the painting, but it was gone. There was a door. James wasted no time. At lightning speed, he pulled the door open, and he and Sirius hurled themselves through it. As soon as they were through, they heard the painting slide back into place and heard Jackson's retreating footsteps.
'Has he gone?' whispered Sirius.
'I think so. Lucky escape, eh?' replied James, getting to his feet.
'Yeah,' said Sirius 'hey, where are we?' asked Sirius.
They were in a gigantic room, directly below, it seemed, the Great Hall, but almost the same size. Hundreds of pots and pans lay on huge shelves, and at the other end of the room was a huge, brick fireplace. Four huge tables, which James recognized as the House Tables, were standing empty in positions directly below where they would stand in the Great Hall.
'Sirius,' whispered James hoarsely, 'we've hit the jackpot, this is the kitchen!'
'But where's the food?' Sirius wondered aloud.
But then, at that moment, almost as though answering his question, about a hundred tiny creatures appeared in the far corner of the room. James recognized them as House Elves.
'They must do the cooking,' said Sirius, 'yeah, look.'
For at that moment, the House Elves began spit roasting a hundred fat chickens and boiling vats of potatoes. A group of the House Elves, however, approached James and Sirius.
'Can we get you anything, sirs,' one elf said in a very squeaky voice, 'can we get you anything at all?'
James and Sirius raised their eyebrows, and then nodded to each other.
'Have you got any fries?' asked Sirius innocently.
The house elves then rushed off and returned, about a minute later, with a plateful of fries.
'Good service,' remarked James, whilst munching his fries.
'Yeah,' agreed Sirius. 'And you know who we have to thank.'
'Yeah I do, Jackson. If he hadn't chased us, we would probably be in the common room now, hungry,' said James, with a pained expression.
After washing down their fries with a glass each of pumpkin juice, James and Sirius made their way up to the Gryffindor common room. They weren't hungry after their adventures in the kitchen.
'I just hope we can remember the way back,' remarked James, as they entered the common room.
'Don't worry, I'll remember,' answered Sirius, 'My nose will lead us.' And he made a sniffing noise, as though to sniff out food.
James laughed, and they entered the common room to see: Frank playing chess with Sarah Coleman, another first-year Gryffindor, Lily now helping Peter with his Charms homework, and Katie chatting to Heather Thomas, another first-year. They guessed that Remus would still be at Hagrid's.
It was only as he got into bed that night that James remembered about the conversation he had overheard between Professors Jackson and Thornheart. What had they said? He couldn't remember much, only something about a potion. He decided not to worry about it, and was soon in a deep sleep.
James woke very early on Saturday morning and went down to the common room to find Sirius and Peter immersed in an exciting game of chess. Peter, who happened to be a very good chess player, had soon beaten Sirius, and had an expression of great smugness on his face.
'Bad luck Sirius,' he said, grinning.
'I'll beat you next time,' promised Sirius, returning the grin.
At that moment, the door to the dormitories opened and Remus came bounding into the common room.
'Morning all,' he said brightly.
'Morning,' replied James.
'You know what, I'm really hungry,' said Sirius suddenly, winking at James. 'But where could we get food at this time of the morning?' he added, with an air of great wonder.
'You're right Sirius,' said James, clocking on. 'I've got no idea.'
'Have we missed something?' Remus asked.
And James and Sirius proceeded to tell Peter and Remus all the events of the previous afternoon. Peter was jealous of them finding the kitchens, but Remus, on the other hand, seemed more interested in the conversation between Professors Jackson and Thornheart.
'And you say they said something about a potion?' he asked James.
'Yeah, Thornheart was asking something like whether Jackson had the formula or something like that.'
'But Jackson said he hadn't?' prompted Remus.
'Yeah.'
'Well, I don't know what it's about,' Sirius added. 'But then again, I don't care.'
Peter agreed to this, and by the time they had stopped talking, Lily and Katie had joined them, and they all went down to breakfast.
At breakfast, and just after the post had arrived, Sirius said:
'Hey, do you guys want to go down and see that new tree thingy.'
'The Whomping Willow,' put in Remus so quickly, that the others stared.
'How do you know it's called that,' James asked, 'you weren't there when Dumbledore told us about it.'
'Oh, er, Dumbledore told me about it when I arrived,' said Remus, looking (James noticed) uncomfortable as he said it.
'Oh right,' said Sirius, 'that explains it,' though James couldn't help noticing the doubtfulness in his voice. 'So anyway, this Ravenclaw kid, something Chang, he said some fifth-years have invented a game to do with it, and Dumbledore did say we'd get in trouble if we went near it.
James couldn't help laughing at the hopefulness in Sirius' voice as he said this.
'Yeah, sure Sirius, I'll come,' he said, still chuckling.
'Me too.' Said Peter.
'Er, I think I'll do my Charms essay,' said Remus, in a strangely high-pitched voice, 'yeah, I really need to finish it.'
'Um, Remus?' said Lily innocently.
'Mm?'
'Er, we haven't been given a Charms essay yet.'
'What! Oh! Did I say Charms? I meant Defense Against the Dark Arts,' he continued, in the same high-pitched tone.
'Remus, are you feeling OK?' asked Sirius.
'Yes, yes, I'm fine, fine. Gotta go.' And he departed at high speed.
'Wonder what's wrong with him?' James said quietly.
'Dunno. Anyway, come on!' answered Sirius, and the five of them left the great hall and went into the grounds.
The game involving the Whomping Willow was, it transpired, extremely stupid and dangerous. Lily refused to participate, and walked straight back up to the castle with Peter and Katie, who had also refused. James and Sirius, however, enjoying both the risk of injury and being caught, had stayed.
The Whomping Willow was a very, very vicious tree. It would lash out with its branches at anything in its vicinity, human or not. Nobody had any idea why it had been planted, but figured it must be something important, as Dumbledore would never place something dangerous in the grounds without good reason. The game involving the Willow involved getting as close as you could to the trunk without the tree hitting you. It was risky, but still good fun, until Professor McGonagall came out to the grounds at midday and gave James, Sirius and a group of fifth-year Ravenclaws detention. The six kids were the only ones who had been brave enough to try, though there had been many interested spectators.
James and Sirius decided they might as well go straight to lunch, as they were both hungry after their adventures, and soon found themselves in the Great Hall. They spotted Remus and Lily eating at one end of the table.
'Oh dear, McGonagall gave you detentions, did she? Remus asked, spotting the detention slip in Sirius' hand
'Yeah, she- hold on, how d'you know it was McGonagall? It doesn't say so on this,' he added, indicating the slip.
'Well, er,' said Lily, looking uncomfortable.
'I told McGonagall,' Remus blurted out. 'I'm sorry, it's just I hate that tree.'
The two of them gaped at him for a moment, but then dropped their gazes.
'Ah, it don't matter Remus. We all make mistakes.'
'Yeah, don't worry about it,' said Sirius. 'And anyway, Jamesy-boy and me ('It's James,' James interjected) are gonna break a world record,' he added proudly, holding up his slip. 'It's two-all in the first week.'
Lily laughed.
'And it'll be a close contest all the way, no mistake,' added James seriously, causing Lily to laugh so much that she spat out all her pumpkin juice- all over him. Remus and Sirius almost choked laughing, but Lily looked unnaturally serious.
'Oh James, I'm really sorry,' she said sincerely.
'Don't worry about it Lily,' said James, beginning to laugh himself.
'I'm sorry.'
***
Sunday was quite an uneventful day, though James managed to take a 3-2 lead in the detention competition (they kept a record in Sirius' notebook. Each was dated and gave the name of the person who set the detention) with his third detention, for stepping on Mrs. Norris' tail. Mrs. Norris was a scrawny cat owned by Argus Filch, the grumpy, miserable school caretaker. He was worse than Professor Thornheart, and had given James a detention for accidentally stepping on Mrs. Norris' tail as he had turned a corner. Apart from that, Sirius, James and Peter spent the afternoon playing Exploding Snap or Chess with each other (Peter always beat James and Sirius). Just as James had lost his fifth game of chess (to Peter), Lily entered the common room with a flourish.
'You two will have to watch out, or I'll overtake you,' she said, pointing to James and Sirius.
'Eh?' Said Sirius sleepily. He had been taking a nap.
'I'VE JUST GOT MY FIRST DETENTION!' she screamed at Sirius. He fell off the couch and it took him a moment to recover.
'Well done,' said James. 'You managed a detention in your first week with only…three hours left of it,' he said, checking his watch.
'But it isn't a good thing.'
'Course it is.' Replied Sirius sleepily. 'You should join our competition.'
'Shut up! I don't want a detention. If Snape wasn't so evil I wouldn't have a detention and I wouldn't have to spend Monday afternoon helping the gamekeeper! Goodnight!!
And she ran up to her dormitory, slamming the door behind her.
'Girls! They don't understand that detention is an art. And it looks like we'll have company tomorrow; she's helping Hagrid as well.
'Good, I dunno if I could stand two hours with you! Alone!'
'My heart bleeds.'
'Ooh! What's this?' said Remus, who had just entered he common room. 'Has James got a secret crush on someone?'
'Yeah, that's right,' replied Sirius, unable to keep a straight face. 'It's Lily.'
'Oh no! What will I tell my darling Lily now that you three have found out about us?' Replied James, in a tone of mock horror. 'I might have to cancel the wedding,' he continued, struggling to keep a straight face.
'But then we might not get any cake!' added Peter, in the same tone of horror.
All four boys burst out laughing. Chuckling, Remus said:
'Well James, Have fun breaking the news to Lily. I'll see what's left of you in the morning. G'night.' And he trotted up the stairs to the boys' dorm.
'Yeah, I think I'll go to bed as well,' said Sirius, yawning. 'Night.'
'Sleep well,' said Peter, laughing. 'Fancy one more game of chess, James?'
'Why not?'
And so, after Peter had beaten James in an exciting game of chess, both boys retreated to their dorm, to find Sirius, Remus and Frank all fast asleep.
'Aww, doesn't he look cute when he's asleep,' said Peter, pointing to Sirius.
James shuddered.
'You'll give me nightmares about him now, you evil git.' Peter grinned. Within five minutes, all five boys were fast asleep.
***
At breakfast the next morning, the first thing James saw as the post arrived was Mercury, flying towards him with a letter in her beak. Sirius and Lily had them as well. They all said:
Your detentions will take place tonight. You are required to be at Mr. Hagrid's hut at 3.30 pm, following your flying lessons.
Prof. M. McGonagall
James thoroughly enjoyed Transfiguration that morning. He was the only one who managed to transfigure his needle into a stick insect. Professor McGonagall gave five points to Gryffindor. Sirius, meanwhile, managed to deduct those five points, as he had instead been using his needles to try and engrave 'Snape stinks' onto his desk, when Professor McGonagall had caught him. James, Remus and Peter had all nearly choked laughing.
'Rats,' Sirius had said. 'Didn't even get detention.'
Later that afternoon, instead of Defense against the Dark Arts, the Gryffindors were to start flying lessons, which they had with the Ravenclaws. The weather was cool and sunny, which were perfect flying conditions. Their flying instructor, Madam Hooch, issued them all with a broomstick, and they spent the lesson either learning the basics or speeding around the grounds. James, who belonged to the latter group of people, was the best flyer there, and Madam hooch was impressed with him. Though Sirius was not a great flyer, he still enjoyed the lesson, as he spent it all talking to Peter, resulting in a detention for both of them. Lily was fairly successful after she had learned the basics, but was still a little inclined to shriek whenever James flew past her at high speed, and almost knocking her off her broom. Remus and Peter were both very willing to stay on the ground rather than off it, as both had an incomprehensible (in James' opinion) fear of heights. At 3.30, all the students except for James, Sirius and Lily made their way back up to the castle. The other three, on the other hand, made their way down to Hagrid's hut, where they found him in front of a large patch of pumpkins.
'Alrigh',' he said, as they approached. 'Yeh're Remus' friends, aren't yeh?
'Yeah,' replied Sirius. 'Sirius, Lily and Jamesy-boy, at your service.
'It's James,' said James angrily. 'Anyway, how can we help you?'
They spent an enjoyable afternoon chatting with Hagrid. All that they had to do in terms of work was water the pumpkins every half-hour, which meant they got to know him. At 7.30, Hagrid walked them back up to the castle, just in time for dinner.
'See yeh later, you three. Come'n visit us any time.'
'See ya, Hagrid,' called Sirius and James cheerfully. Lily, who had been so miserable about receiving the detention, afterwards admitted that she'd enjoyed the afternoon.
And cut. That's all for now, folks, though the next part won't be
too long in coming. By the way, nothing belongs to me (its all
JKR's). Don't forget to r/r.
Ciao.